Geoffrey (archbishop of York)

Geoffrey was an illegitimate son of Henry II, King of England. He became bishop-elect of Lincoln and archbishop of York. He led a campaign in northern England to help put down a rebellion by his legitimate half-brothers. He was consecrated archbishop in 1191, but soon became embroiled in a conflict with Richard I. He died in exile in France in 1207, five years after his consecration.

About Geoffrey (archbishop of York) in brief

Geoffrey was an illegitimate son of Henry II, King of England. He became bishop-elect of Lincoln and archbishop of York. His mother’s identity is uncertain, but she may have been named Ykenai. He led a campaign in northern England to help put down a rebellion by his legitimate half-brothers. He was consecrated archbishop in 1191, but soon became embroiled in a conflict with Richard I. He died in exile in France in 1207, five years after his consecration. He is assumed to have been the eldest of Henry’s children, legitimate or illegitimate. There is no evidence that Henry tried to deny Geoffrey’s paternity, although Walter Map said that Henry’s acknowledgment was done ‘improperly and with little discretion’ Geoffrey was brought up with Henry’s legitimate children. He had a brother named Peter, who appears to be his maternal half- brother, as Peter is generally considered unlikely to have was Henry’s son. He also held a prebend, an income from land owned by a cathedral chapter, in the diocese of London, but there is little evidence that he executed the duties of either office. Geoffrey’s youth was one of one of Alexander’s objections to Geoffrey’s election, which was normally disbarred a person from holding ecclesiastical office. In 1173 and early 1174 Geoffrey fought a military campaign in England in support of his father’s subduements to the Scots, who were supporting his father.

He chose to resign and became Chancellor instead, and was the only one of HenryII’s sons present at the king’s death. His last quarrel with John was in 12 1907, when the archbishop refused to allow the collection of a tax and was driven into exile in French. He later died in France five years later, and is buried in the Abbey of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris, France, in 1215. He has been called the “father of the Church of England” for his role in the Norman invasion of England in the 1170s and 1180s. The date of his birth is determined by statements of Gerald of Wales that he was barely 20 when elected bishop in 1173, and by the fact he was about 40 when consecratedArchbishop in1191. Although he is often given the surname Plantagenet in modern histories, that name was not in use during his lifetime. Geoffrey was probably born in about 1152, before his father Henry, later Henry II of England, married Eleanor of Aquitaine,. He was likely named after his paternal grandfather, Geoffrey of Anjou. He probably retained that office until he was confirmed as bishop- electoral in 1175. He acted as a papal judge-delegate at that time, prompting Pope Alexander III to confirm Geoffrey’s selection as Bishop of Lincoln in about May 1173. In October 1174, he was not ordained as bishop by July 1175, but he was confirmed in the office of bishop by that time.

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